Doopydoos DL-44 Review – Han Solo Blaster Resin Kit

It’s been quiet here at Prop Up Shop this week. But, having torn myself away from the inexorable tedium of the so called real world, I’ve put together a Doopydoos DL-44 review. There are two things I know about Doopydoos; they produce high quality, competitively priced Star Wars prop kits and their name is immeasurably preposterous.

Moving on from my previous, potentially libelous statement… I can’t think of a more iconic movie weapon than Han Solo’s DL-44 blaster, or to be more accurate blasters. For the uninitiated, the blaster Han uses varies between films, and in the case of Episode IV, during the film itself. This presents prop makers and collectors plenty of opportunities/excuses to get “just one more blaster”. Arguably the best looking, and most famous of the blaster variants is the version used for most of Episode IV – So that’s what we’re looking at today.

Doopydoos DL-44 Review

I’m no expert on blaster details, so this review will concentrate on the quality of the castings and how well the kit fits together. That being said, the Doopydoos DL-44 is well proportioned and detailed. Furthermore, being true 1:1 scale and to my eyes at least, accurate, it produces a very decent end result.

Right from the moment I unwrapped the shipping box, I could tell this was a very well made kit. As I pulled each of the resin castings from the bubble wrap I could see that there were very few air bubbles (a common issue with cast resin kits) and minimal flash. Dry fitting the major assemblies suggested that there was little/no casting shrinkage (another common issue) and that everything would go together with little fuss.

While not strictly relevant to the Doopydoos DL-44 Review, and for those that have not attempted a cast resin kit before, here’s what to expect. Resin kits require more work than the injection moulded plastic model kits that we are all familiar with. Thus, expectations need to be realistic. I have never assembled a resin kit that did not require small amounts of hole filling, removal of flashing, and filing/sanding parts to aid fitment and improve finish. It’s not rocket science, but resin kits do require a little more patience and skill than conventional plastic kits.

Specific Parts

The Doopydoos DL-44 is supplied in three main assemblies, with the detail parts separate. The upper and lower receiver of the pistol are impressively hefty castings, as is the scope.

While the quality of the white castings was almost perfect, the hand grips display a few issues. The white marks you can see here are just remnants of the mould release, and will be removed when we clean the parts up prior to assembly. The bigger issue here are the numerous small holes in the casting, caused by trapped bubbles of air. This is not a major issue and is to be expected to some extent in all resin kits. These can be easily filled with model filler, followed by a bit of clean up with some sandpaper. Getting the hand grips up to spec took me around 20 minutes (not including the drying time for the filler), so it’s not a big deal really.

The only issue I could see on the pistols receiver was the small marks on the hammer. These were easily filled with model filler. If you look at the back of the hammer, you can also see some flashing where the two mould halves met. This is easily taken care of with a bit of light sanding, and as mentioned earlier is a reality of dealing with resin kits.

The castings in this kit are excellent. The upper receiver has incredibly sharp details and there is very little that needs to be cleaned up here. Very impressed!

I’m not exaggerating when I say that the scope casting was almost perfect. I’ve built over 100 resin kits over the years and let me tell you, it’s rare to find a casting this clean. Very nice work indeed.

Doopydoos DL-44 Review – The Verdict.

If you’ve been paying attention you can probably tell that I like this kit. In my time as a model maker I have seen all sorts of resin kits, many good, some mediocre and a surprising number that were truly terrible. The Doopydoos DL-44 is not flawless, but it is, in my humble opinion a fantastic model kit, both in terms of ease of assembly and looks. What I haven’t yet mentioned is the price – at £40 this is great value, in fact, it’s a bargain.

As you can see from the photo below, with a little work, this excellent model kit can be made into a pretty convincing looking replica of Han’s iconic blaster from A New Hope. I hope my Doopydoos DL-44 review is of use to you guys, and that it inspires you to have a go at your own Han Solo Blaster build. I will be posting a build thread for this kit in the coming weeks, but for those that want to see more of my Doopydoos DL-44, check out this gallery.

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DOGLESSProp Builder, cutting mat enthusiast and part time Douglas Fir.

I’ve been making things since I was old enough to pronounce Lego. Consequently my maker life has been spent constructing, kit-bashing and scratch-building anything and everything that has taken my fancy. After dedicating my time to Wargaming, Model Armour & Railways, I stumbled across what has now become an obsession – Prop building.